Amazon Echo Dot ad cleared over cat food order

A television ad for Amazon's Echo Dot smart speaker that caused a viewer's device to try to order cat food has been cleared by a UK regulator. The advert, which aired in October, featured a man asking Amazon's voice assistant Alexa to order Purina cat food. A viewer said the ad caused their Echo Dot device to respond after hearing the ad on the television. In this case, the ad did cause the device to initiate an order for cat food, and the user cancelled the order personally. The devices overheard a television news anchor on CW6 in San Diego talking about a child who managed to order a doll's house and a tin of cookies from Alexa because the family had not activated parental controls on their Echo device.